Small Karambit Prototypes

C

Channing Watson

Joined
Jun 12, 2012
Messages
103
Made 4 of these while waiting for steel to show up. My large karambit is...well...BIG and requires a large sheath. I designed these to be as compact as possible while still having a fairly decent sized edge. I moved the "curve" out of the edge and in to the handle/blade junction to see how it would cut. Works well! almost full penetration with a slash in ballistics gel (which does not like to cut!)

Prototypes are:
3/16ths 1095
5.9 inches overall with a 2.21 inch edge
G10 Scales,
Hollow ground primary bevel, false edge up front and on top.

Production will be the same size but 5/32 s35, tip moved up about 3/16ths of an inch and the handle 3/16ths longer.

The coolest part (for me anyway) is that I have a folder design with the exact same profile that *should* work!

_MG_7283_resized.jpg_MG_7302_resized.jpg
 
It may be an effective design, Channing, but have you thought of bringing the blade up? The 90 degree angle seems pretty severe.
 
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Thanks David!

I have been using one of the protos for a week now. Though it wasn't designed to be a "utility" knife - it performs fairly well depending on the task. Worked great for cutting and trimming leather, opening boxes, cutting cord, trimming shipping labels etc. Not the greatest for anything requiring extremely fine tip "pushing"

As for carry - _MG_7297_resized.jpg it is better than any karambit I have played with that has a significant curve. It rides high, is completely concealed under a shirt and draws very easily without the need to rotate the blade out. The sheath is also very small in comparison to other karambits.
 
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Edit: Looks like I replied to your original post, sorry.

The tip is going to be moved up about 3/16ths in the final version - but no. The angle was kind of the point. I wanted to see what happened when I moved the curve out of the edge its self and in to the junction between the handle and blade. It allowed for a more comfortable handle in a reverse grip, great "punching action", and a very short package while maintaining a decent edge length.

I was afraid it wouldn't work well for what it was meant to do (slash flesh basically, it is a defensive knife after all) but it works very well, almost full blade penetration with a 6" slash in ballistics gel (which is very difficult to cut, much more so than meat). It will only be better with the final version which will be out of thinner stock and be edges all around.
 
Channing Watson said:
Edit: Looks like I replied to your original post, sorry.

The tip is going to be moved up about 3/16ths in the final version - but no. The angle was kind of the point. I wanted to see what happened when I moved the curve out of the edge its self and in to the junction between the handle and blade. It allowed for a more comfortable handle in a reverse grip, great "punching action", and a very short package while maintaining a decent edge length.

I was afraid it wouldn't work well for what it was meant to do (slash flesh basically, it is a defensive knife after all) but it works very well, almost full blade penetration with a 6" slash in ballistics gel (which is very difficult to cut, much more so than meat). It will only be better with the final version which will be out of thinner stock and be edges all around.
Click to expand...

LoL. I'm sometimes guilty of not displaying enough tact, and that's why I changed my post. I'm having trouble envisioning this knife in use, i.e., versus a straighter but still curved blade. I guess it's one of those "you have to handle it to see how it performs." But, of course, I more than take your word that it's a great slasher.
 
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